Julia Child once said, “You’ve got to have a what-the-hell attitude” when it comes to cooking.

Julia Child once said, “You’ve got to have a what-the-hell attitude” when it comes to cooking. Last night, my friends exerted the same kind of attitude towards our cooking workshop at Cook & Taste. I, on the other hand, stayed back and watched the newly crowned chefs create their dishes.

Walking into the workshop the first thing I notice is the elongated dining bar accented by neatly set plates, spoons, forks, knives, and cups. Connected to the dining bar was the stove, which held all the necessary ingredients for our five course meal. Food on the menu included pan con tomate, gazpacho, tortilla, chicken paella and crema de catalana. After calling for volunteers, our head chef instructed us on how to prepare the different dishes. From peeling the potato, cutting the onions and peppers, cooking the chicken and grounding the nuts, each person was in charge of a particular task; some more than others. I falling on the others category and spending most of the time taking pictures of all their hard work.

Camera in hand, I watched as members of this group complete their individual assignments nonchalantly. Within a few minutes, each member graciously joined one another to add their individual ingredients together, in hopes of creating a grander dish to share as a family.

The ability to cook is definitely a talent. It takes intelligence to know how much of each ingredient is needed and it takes patience to cook for such a long time. It also takes skill to get the dishes to taste amazing every time. So for those blessed with this amazing talent, I’m at the mercy of your apron.